Tinospora Cordifolia: A review of its immunomodulatory properties

Abstract

Emergent health threats have heightened human awareness of the need for health and wellness measures that promote resilience to disease. In addition to proper nutrition and exercise, health-conscious consumers are seeking natural-based modalities, e.g. botanical preparations, that positively impact the immune system. In Ayurvedic ethnomedicine, Tinospora cordifolia (T. cordifolia), a deciduous climbing shrub indigenous to India, has been used to historically to combat acute and chronic inflammation as well as to promote a balanced immune response. As a dietary supplement, T. cordifolia has been administered most often as a decoction either alone or in compositions containing other medicinal plant extracts of the Terminalia and Phyllanthus species. Extensive phytochemical characterization of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of different Tinospora species has identified over two hundred different phytochemicals from non-overlapping chemical classes with the most abundant being diterpenoids containing the clerodane-type skeleton. Numerous pharmacology studies have demonstrated that T. cordifolia modulates key signaling pathways related to cell proliferation, inflammation, and immunomodulation. However, rigorous dereplication studies to identify active constituents in various T. cordifolia extracts and their fractions are lacking. In this review, we will summarize the current information regarding T. cordifolia’s ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, and safety in order to highlight its potential as an immunomodulatory dietary supplement.

Keywords:

• Dietary supplement
• nutraceutical
• extract
• Tinospora cordifolia
• immune health

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Charles R. Yates

Charles R. Yates is a Principal Scientist at the NCNPR and his research interests include phytochemical compositions that impact acute and chronic inflammatory diseases.

Eugene J. Bruno

Eugene J. Bruno is Professor of Nutraceutical Science and Provost of Huntington University of Health Sciences. For more than 40 years he has taught and written about nutraceutical-related research.

Mary E. D. Yates

Mary E. D. Yates is the Clinical Pharmacy Manager and Medication Safety Officer at Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare-Germantown, TN. Her interests include quality and performance improvement, continuum of care related to prescription, over the counter medications, herbals and supplements, and medication safety related issues including reporting of adverse drug events.